about
The name “Vreds” is an homage to Anna’s grandparents and the small-town Main Street store that bore their name. Our advisory equips many families in their philanthropy, and our name reflects the values of excellence and community that we share with the philanthropic families we empower.
‘Vreds’ (Verb) from ‘Vrida’ (Old Norse): to change the direction of.
anna bobb
MPH, FOUNDER AND MANAGING PARTNER
Anna Bobb is a philanthropic and strategic advisor based in the nation’s capital. She helps individual philanthropists and foundations drive real-world change by crafting the relationships and insights necessary to turn research into practice.
She brings 20-plus years of experience creating high-impact initiatives and coalitions across philanthropy, government, leading health systems, corporations, unions, and the nonprofit sector.
Anna’s early perspective was shaped by her time at Johns Hopkins Medicine, where she advised subsidiaries and departments from the health system’s primary care group to its international practice. She also built coalitions with Fortune 500 employers, insurers, and health non-profits for national health quality and policy initiatives. She later developed commercialization and innovation initiatives with leading scientists, FDA experts, and philanthropists.
More recently, Anna developed and led a novel program identifying health opportunities for philanthropists at The Philanthropy Roundtable. Prior to that, she helped develop a philanthropic fund providing full-tuition scholarships for children of victims of 9/11 and attacks on U.S. embassies. Additional areas of focus include poverty, mental health, social determinants, medical education, and the health workforce.
Anna earned her master’s in public health from Johns Hopkins University.
laudan aron
SENIOR ADVISOR
Laudan (Laudy) Aron is a social scientist and strategic policy research leader focused on a wide range of social and economic issues relating to population health and well-being, including health, education, human services, employment and training, community development, and other social determinants of health. Much of her career has been at the Urban Institute, where she has co-led the national coordinating center for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Policies for Action (P4A) research program. Laudy also directed and co-edited the ground-breaking 2013 study for the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine on U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health, “one of the most heavily cited publications in the history of the National Research Council.”
In addition to producing original research, Laudy is especially interested in harnessing and applying existing evidence — evidence of all kinds — to advance equity, justice, and systems that optimize the wellbeing of people, communities, and their environments. Her work has been used by decision makers and activists at all levels of government and civil society.
Laudy’s wide-ranging work and commentaries have appeared in prestigious journals, mainstream media outlets, and Supreme Court amicus briefs. Sponsors of her work include the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation, the JPB Foundation, the National Council on Disability, the Social Security Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, Labor, Justice, and Housing and Urban Development.
Laudy has a BSc in Mathematics from McGill University and an MA in Sociology/Demography from the University of Pennsylvania.
lauren vogel
MA, SENIOR ADVISOR
With over 15 years of experience in marketing and communications and a Master’s degree in writing, Lauren is deeply passionate about crafting messages that not only inform but resonate deeply, acknowledging the complexities of navigating today’s saturated information landscape.
Lauren’s diverse expertise, including non-profits to health and education, infuses her communication strategies with a unique depth, guided by a commitment to impactful and mindful messaging. Her 14 years as a yoga teacher have shaped her holistic perspective, blending compassion and mindfulness into organizational culture and communication, reflecting Lauren’s belief in the power of words to connect, heal, and inspire action.
In an era where information overload is the norm, Lauren aims to be a beacon of clarity, kindness and purpose, guiding communication efforts with a steady hand and a clear vision. Through this blend of strategic communication and mindfulness, Lauren makes significant impacts across various fields, embodying the principle that how we connect with others is as important as the message itself.
Lauren holds a BA from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and an MA in Writing from DePaul University.
elizabeth heetderks-fong
PH.D, ACNP, SENIOR ADVISOR
Elizabeth Heetderks-Fong is an experienced clinician, professor, and researcher focusing on health care value and impact maximization, health economics, and thoughtful use of big data.
As an ER nurse, she cared for many underinsured and uninsured people and families seeking care in a high-volume, under-staffed, urban emergency department at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. She saw people in need at their most critically vulnerable moments, including medical emergencies and mental health crises. After becoming an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, she worked as a hospitalist for Johns Hopkins, managing care from admission to discharge and organizing appropriate follow-up.
Elizabeth taught nursing and pharmacology to bachelors students, many of whom were first-generation, later-in-life, or GI-bill funded scholars. She currently teaches graduate students biostatistics and research design at the University of Maryland as an adjunct faculty member.
Elizabeth was awarded her master’s degree in nursing from Columbia University and her PhD from the University of Maryland.
jobi hasse
ADVISOR/CHIEF OF STAFF
Jobi is based in Grand Rapids, MI and excels in executive support, administration of complex projects, community outreach, and event design and implementation.
In a prior role, Jobi worked in the White House in the Office of Science and Technology Policy. In that role, she managed calendars, worked with experts and academics to prepare for hearings, and coordinated events. She also worked as a project manager at Microsoft and in a secure environment at the Homeland Security Council. Jobi’s experience with events extends to voluntary initiatives like the Auction Committee for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Jobi earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Hillsdale College.